Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Sires and Rationalising Denominator
Sires and Rationalising Denominator
Sires and Rationalising Denominator
Surds
Contents
Simplifying Surds
Rationalising Denominators
Page 1 of 7
© 2015-2024 Save My Exams, Ltd. · Revision Notes, Topic Questions, Past Papers
Head to savemyexams.com for more awesome resources
Simplifying Surds
Your notes
Surds & Exact Values
What is a surd?
A surd is the square root of a non-square integer
Using surds lets you leave answers in exact form
e.g. 5 2 rather than 7 . 071067812
Page 2 of 7
© 2015-2024 Save My Exams, Ltd. · Revision Notes, Topic Questions, Past Papers
Head to savemyexams.com for more awesome resources
Adding or subtracting surds is very like adding or subtracting letters in algebra – you can only
add or subtract multiples of “like” surds
Your notes
eg. 3 5 + 8 5 = 11 5 or 7 3 – 4 3 = 3 3
Be very careful here, you can not add or subtract numbers under square roots
Think about 9 + 4= 3 + 2 = 5
It is not equal to 9 + 4 = 13 = 3 . 60555…
Exam Tip
If you are working on an exam question and your calculator gives you an answer as a surd,
leave the value as a surd throughout the rest of your calculations to make sure you do not
lose accuracy throughout your questions
Page 3 of 7
© 2015-2024 Save My Exams, Ltd. · Revision Notes, Topic Questions, Past Papers
Head to savemyexams.com for more awesome resources
Rationalising Denominators
Your notes
Rationalising Denominators
What does it mean to rationalise a denominator?
If a fraction has a surd on the denominator, it is not in its simplest form and must be rationalised
Rationalising a denominator changes a fraction with surds in the denominator into an equivalent
fraction
The denominator will be an integer and any surds are in the numerator
Page 4 of 7
© 2015-2024 Save My Exams, Ltd. · Revision Notes, Topic Questions, Past Papers
Head to savemyexams.com for more awesome resources
Exam Tip
Your notes
When you have an expression on the denominator you can use the FOIL technique from
multiplying out double brackets
Remember that the aim is to remove the surd from the denominator, so if this doesn't
happen you need to check your working or rethink the expression you are using in your
calculation
Page 5 of 7
© 2015-2024 Save My Exams, Ltd. · Revision Notes, Topic Questions, Past Papers
Head to savemyexams.com for more awesome resources
Worked example
Your notes
4
Write in the form p + q r where p , q and r are integers and r has no square
6 −2
factors.
There is an expression on the denominator, so the fraction will need to be multiplied by a fraction
with this expression on both the numerator and denominator, but with the sign changed.
Multiply the fractions together by multiplying across the numerator and the denominator.
By expanding the denominator, you will notice that it is a difference of two squares problem.
Simplify by cancelling out the 4 on the numerator and the 2 on the denominator.
Page 6 of 7
© 2015-2024 Save My Exams, Ltd. · Revision Notes, Topic Questions, Past Papers
Head to savemyexams.com for more awesome resources
Your notes
Page 7 of 7
© 2015-2024 Save My Exams, Ltd. · Revision Notes, Topic Questions, Past Papers